The economic impact of acute coronary syndrome on length of stay: an analysis using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases

Objective:

To assess the economic impact of initial and repeat hospitalizations associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) over 1 year (2009).

Design and methods:

National- and state-level data on length of stay (LOS) and related charges for ACS-associated hospital admissions were assessed using two Healthcare Utilization Project databases. The first, the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), provided clinical and resource use information from ～8 million hospital stays, representing a 20% stratified sample of ～40 million annual hospital stays in the US in 2009. The second, the State Inpatient Databases, provided 100% of inpatient data from nine states that included both patient age and linked information on multiple patient admissions within the same calendar year. For patients with repeat admissions, the LOS, primary diagnosis, and total charges between the first and subsequent admissions were evaluated. All patients ≥18 years of age with at least one diagnosis of ACS, defined using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, were included (code 410.xx [except 410.x2], 411.1x and 411.8x). Variables evaluated for each discharge included demographics, cardiovascular events and procedures, LOS, discharge status, and total charges.

Results:

The NIS reported 1,437,735 discharges for ACS in 2009. In this dataset, mean LOS for an initial ACS event was 5.56 days. Patients >65 years of age had the highest numbers of admissions; this group also had the most comorbidities. Approximately 40% of ACS patients with data on repeat visits had more than one admission, >70% of these within 2 months of the primary discharge. Mean charges were $71,336 for the first admission and $53,290 for the second admission.

Conclusion:

Despite a variety of new therapies to prevent ACS, it remains a common condition. Better therapies are called for if the clinical and cost burden of ACS is to be alleviated.     

Resource utilization and healthcare costs for acute coronary syndrome patients with and without diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective:

This study compared differences in healthcare costs and resource utilization for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods:

A retrospective cohort study of a large, US employer-based claims database identified adults hospitalized for ACS between 01/01/2005 and 12/31/2006 and categorized them based on DM status. Resource utilization and costs during the index hospitalization and in the 12-month follow-up period were compared for ACS patients with and without DM using the propensity score stratification bootstrapping method, adjusting for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results:

Of 12,502 patients who met selection criteria, 3,040 (24%) had a history of DM and 9,462 (76%) did not. Patients with DM were older, female, and had higher rates of previous cardiovascular and renal diseases. After the propensity score stratification, patients with DM incurred higher index hospitalization costs ($32,577 vs. $29,150, p?<?0.01) as well as higher total follow-up healthcare costs ($35,400 vs. $24,080, p?<?0.01), including higher inpatient ($17,278 vs. $11,247, p?<?0.01), outpatient ($12,357 vs. $8,853, p?<?0.01), and pharmacy costs ($5,765 vs. $3,980, p?<?0.01).

Limitations:

General limitations exist with any retrospective claims database analysis including potential diagnostic or procedural coding inaccuracies. Additionally, the patient population was representative of a working-age population with employer-sponsored health insurance and results may not be generalizable to other patient populations.

Conclusions:

DM is significantly associated with increased healthcare resource utilization and costs for ACS patients.     

Delivering patient choice in English acute hospital trusts

The role of the patient within the NHS has changed from supplicant to consumer to active participant. A demand-side patient-led approach is combining quasi-consumerism and participative democracy to inform and facilitate patient choice. On the supply-side funding and incentives coupled to reform and performance will deliver additional hospital capacity and patient choice. This paper argues from both a demand and supply-side perspective that there is a large gap between the rhetoric and reality of delivering patient choice in acute hospitals.     

托拉塞米与呋塞米治疗脑出血后急性脑水肿患者的临床效果

目的探讨托拉塞米和呋塞米治疗脑出血后急性脑水肿患者的临床效果。方法选取2015年6月至2018年3月解放军第四六三医院收治的脑出血后急性脑水肿患者68例作为研究对象,随机分为观察组与对照组,每组34例。两组给予甘露醇、水、电解质与营养支持等基础治疗。对照组在基础治疗上给予呋塞米进行治疗,观察组在基础治疗上采用托拉塞米进行治疗,比较两组的治疗效果。结果治疗后,观察组患者脑水肿体积、血肿体积以及颅内压低于对照组,不良反应发生率明显低于对照组,治疗有效率明显高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。观察组患者水肿消失时间、血肿清除时间短于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组治疗前格拉斯哥昏迷评分(GCS)评分比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);治疗后观察组GCS评分高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论与呋塞米比较,采用托拉塞米治疗脑出血后急性脑水肿患者效果更好,能有效减少脑水肿体积与血肿体积,同时降低患者颅内压,减少并发症发生率,显著提高临床疗效。     

Expert panel on practice patterns in the management of cow’s milk protein allergy and associated economic burden of disease on health service in Turkey

Aims: To evaluate practice patterns in the management of cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) and associated economic burden of disease on health service in Turkey.

Materials and methods: This study was based on experts’ views on the practice patterns in management of CMPA manifesting with either proctocolitis or eczema symptoms and, thereby, aimed to estimate economic burden of CMPA. Practice patterns were determined via patient flow charts developed by experts using the modified Delphi method for CMPA presented with proctocolitis and eczema. Per patient total 2-year direct medical costs were calculated, including cost items of physician visits, laboratory tests, and treatment.

Results: According to the consensus opinion of experts, 2-year total direct medical cost from a payer perspective and societal perspective was calculated to be $US2,116.05 and $US2,435.84, respectively, in an infant with CMPA presenting with proctocolitis symptoms, and $US4,001.65 and $US4,828.90, respectively, in an infant with CMPA presenting with eczema symptoms. Clinical nutrition was the primary cost driver that accounted for 89–92% of 2-year total direct medical costs, while the highest total direct medical cost estimated from a payer perspective and societal perspective was noted for the management of an exclusively formula-fed infant presenting either with proctocolitis ($US3,743.85 and $US4,025.63, respectively) or eczema ($US6,854.10 and $US7,917.30, respectively). The first line use of amino acid based formula (AAF) was associated with total direct cost increment $US1,848.08 and $US3,444.52 in the case of proctocolitis and eczema, respectively.

Limitations: Certain limitations to this study should be considered. First, being focused only on direct costs, the lack of data on indirect costs or intangible costs of illness seems to be a major limitation of the present study, which likely results in a downward bias in the estimates of the economic cost of CMPA. Second, given the limited number of studies concerning epidemiology and practice patterns in CMPA in Turkey, use of expert clinical opinion of the panel members rather than real-life data on practice patterns that were used to identify direct medical costs might raise a concern with the validity and reliability of the data. Also, while this was a three-step study with six experts included in the first stage (developing local guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of infants with CMPA in Turkey) and 410 pediatricians included in the second stage (a cross-sectional questionnaire-survey to determine pediatricians’ awareness and practice of CMPA in infants and children), only four members were included in the present Delphi panel, which allows a limited discussion. Third, lack of sensitivity analyses and exclusion of indirect costs and costs related to alterations in quality of life, behavior of infants, and general well-being of infants and their parents from the cost-analysis seems to be another limitation that may have caused under-estimation of relative cost-effectiveness of the formulae. Fourth, calculation of costs per local guidelines rather than real-life practice patterns is another limitation that, otherwise, would extend the knowledge achieved in the current study. Notwithstanding these limitations, the present expert panel provided practice patterns in the management of CMPA and an estimate of the associated costs, depending on the symptom profile at initial admission for the first time in Turkey.

Conclusions: In conclusion, in providing the first health economic data on CMPA in Turkey, the findings revealed that CMPA imposes a substantial burden on the Turkish healthcare system from both a payer perspective and societal perspective, and indicated clinical nutrition as a primary cost driver. Management of infants presenting with eczema, exclusively formula-fed infants, and first line use of AAF were associated with higher estimates for 2-year direct medical costs.     

急性脑梗死介入治疗围术期的护理效果

目的探讨急性脑梗死介入治疗围术期的护理效果。方法对49例急性脑梗死介入治疗患者的围术期护理进行分析。结果 49例患者术后影像学检查显示血管再通44例,血管未通5例,有效率达89.8%,均未出现脑出血、脑水肿等不良后遗症。患者3~4周出院,出院时可独立行走。结论加强急性脑梗死患者的围术期护理,严密观察病情及预防并发症的发生,对手术的成功起着至关重要的作用。     

Modeling operational quality metrics and costs of long-acting antibiotics for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection treatment in the emergency department

Aims: To model implementation of a new treatment pathway leveraging long-acting antibiotics (LAs) for treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) in a hospital emergency department (ED) with an observation unit, and to quantify health resource utilization and economic outcomes versus standard care (intravenous vancomycin).

Materials and methods: Discrete-event simulation was used to model implementation of the LA treatment pathway in the ED versus standard care from the US Medicare perspective. Model inputs were derived from published sources to simulate a real-world hospital ED with an observation unit. Outcomes included key ED metrics such as patient throughput rate and length of stay (LOS) and cost (estimated through reimbursed amounts in 2017 USD).

Results: Implementation of an LA pathway in the ED improved ABSSSI patient throughput rate by 350% (+5.8 dispositions/ED and observation unit day) and reduced LOS by 68% (?7.2?h/patient). These improvements in patient outcomes are driven by the reduced infusion time required for LA antibiotics and are greater for dalbavancin than oritavancin owing to the shorter infusion duration (30?min vs. 3?h).

Limitations: External validity of the model was not assessed. The model was limited to care received in EDs; therefore, certain clinical variables outside the ED were not captured for this analysis.

Conclusions: LA pathway implementation for ABSSSI treatment in the ED supported improved efficiency, which may translate to economic value. As EDs continue to focus on improving key metrics such as throughput rate and LOS, LA pathway implementation should be considered as a potential approach for abbreviated ABSSSI treatment in the ED.     

Acute medical unit design – The impact of rearranged patient flows

Acute Medical Units (AMUs) are instigated in many hospitals across the world. An AMU admits acute patients, mainly arriving via the emergency department, for further assessment, care and treatment for a maximum designated period. Thereafter, patients who require additional care are transferred to regular wards that also admit elective patients. The literature reports several benefits (including reductions in in-patient mortality and in the length of stay), with these conclusions mostly based on empirical findings from studies focused on acute patient performance only. This paper sheds light on the potential hospital-wide impact of implementing a range of AMU designs in terms of length of the designated period, size and transfer policy. A simulation study is performed based on data from a large Dutch hospital. When establishing an AMU, hospitals usually transfer resources from existing wards to the new AMU. This seems logical since these wards receive fewer acute admissions once an AMU is in place. However, our research shows that this transfer of resources decreases the overall performance (of the AMU and the wards) for all the AMU designs investigated. We report on the scale of these negative effects and the required reduction in the length of acute patients' stays required to compensate for these effects.     

四氢化吡咯二硫代氨基甲酸酯干预大鼠急性胰腺炎核因子-κB的表达及作用

目的探讨核因子-κB(NF-κB)及TNF-α在大鼠急性胰腺炎(AP)中的表达,评价四氢化吡咯二硫代氨基甲酸酯(PDTC)对胰腺损伤的保护作用。方法 Wistar大鼠54只,随机分为对照组、模型组、干预组。于造模开始第3、6、12小时麻醉后左心室采血处死,取胰腺组织观察病理变化;采用双抗体夹心ABC-EL ISA法测定NF-κB及TNF-α的含量。结果与对照组比较,模型组大鼠随时间的推移、血清淀粉酶和血浆NF-κB、TNF-α含量及胰腺组织病理学评分显著增高(P<0.01),两指标呈正相关(r=0.483,P<0.05);与模型组比较,干预组血淀粉酶升高幅度和NF-κB、TNF-α含量明显降低,胰腺组织的出血、坏死减轻(P<0.05)。结论 NF-κB激活介导上调TNF-α参与L-精氨酸诱导的AP发生、发展过程;PDTC干预NF-κB激活有效改善胰腺炎症损伤。     

喜炎平注射液联合抗菌药物治疗小儿急性上呼吸道感染患儿的疗效

目的 探讨喜炎平注射液联合抗菌药物治疗小儿急性上呼吸道感染患儿的疗效.方法 选取2019年7月至2020年9月沈阳市儿童医院收治的160例小儿急性上呼吸道感染患儿作为研究对象,随机分为联合组与抗菌药物组,各80例.抗菌药物组仅用抗菌药物治疗,联合组实施喜炎平注射液联合抗菌药物治疗,比较两组的治疗效果.结果 治疗后,两组...